Myanmar - Refugees

Fears that violence could heighten refugee crisis

Article published on the 2009-08-27 Latest update 2009-08-27 10:57 TU

Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe.
(Photo: Reuters)

A campaign group in Washington has warned that fighting in Northeastern Myanmar could continue, saying that a 20-year-long ceasefire is now “effectively broken.”

Since 8 August, tens of thousands of people have fled over the Chinese border to escape fighting between the Burma junta and Kokang ethnic rebel groups in Shan State, reported the Chinese Chongqing Evening Post.

The paper says that the regfugees reached the border town of Nansan between August 8 and 12, and that the Chinese authorities are trying to repatriate them.

Just before August 8, the Myanmar government sent a group of military policemen to a gun repair factory suspected of being a front for rebels. The visit sparked fear amongst locals who took flight, wrote the paper.

The US Campaign for Burma (USCB) says that although actual violence has ceased, tensions have escalated in recent days.

The non-governmental organisation considers that army crackdowns in the east of Myanmar will result in thousands more refugees trying to escape to Thailand or China.

Since taking power in 1962, the military government in Myanmar has signed ceasefires with 17 armed ethnic groups.